American and Global Volunteer Doctors Caught in Gaza Hospital During Israeli Assault

International doctors from the US, UK, Australia, Egypt, Jordan, and Oman have been trapped in Gaza after volunteering to help one of the territory's few functioning hospitals. The medical professionals brought suitcases full of supplies and trained for one of the world's worst war zones. They were meant to leave days ago, but Israeli troops seized Gaza's nearby crossing into Egypt on May 6, closing the main entry and exit point for international humanitarian workers. Talks to evacuate the doctors between their governments and Israel, which controls all access to Gaza, have gone nowhere.The foreign doctors are now living at the southern Gaza hospital where they work. The European General Hospital, just outside Rafah, is the largest hospital still operating in southern Gaza. The two international teams have worked there since early May on what was supposed to be a two-week mission. One team of 17 doctors from the US-based group FAJR Scientific was living in a guesthouse in the city when Israel's Rafah operation began. With no warning from the Israeli army to evacuate, the team was stunned by bombs landing a few hundred meters from the clearly-marked house. They scrambled out, still wearing their scrubs, and moved to the European Hospital, where the other team was staying.The doctors say they don't leave the premises. Negotiations to get them out have been stop-and-go. Twice, they were told to get ready to leave, then told to stand down. The US State Department says it is working with Israel and Egypt for their departure but offered no details. Illinois US Sen. Tammy Duckworth said she is pushing as well.The UN coordinates visits of volunteer teams, including arranging their entry and exit, almost always via Rafah. The World Health Organization said the UN is in talks with Israel on resuming movement of all humanitarian workers in and out of Gaza, which has halted since the Rafah incursion began. The Israeli military said it had no comment.The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 79,000, according to Gaza health officials. Almost 500 health workers are among the dead. Nearly two dozen hospitals in Gaza have been put out of service following Israeli raids or strikes. Israel alleges that Hamas uses hospitals as command centers and hideouts, an accusation Gaza health officials deny. The dozen hospitals remaining only partially operate.Israel's nearly 2-week-old Rafah operation has exacerbated the chaos. More than 600,000 Palestinians have fled the city, scattering across southern Gaza. Much of the European Hospital's Palestinian staff left to help families find new shelter. As a result, the foreign volunteers are stretched between medical emergencies and other duties.Thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in the hospital. Outside, sewage overflows in the streets, and drinking water is brackish or polluted, spreading disease. The road to the hospital from Rafah is now unsafe: The United Nations says an Israeli tank fired on a marked UN vehicle on the road Monday, killing a UN security officer and wounding another.The patients that have been saved keep the doctors going. Dr. Ahlia Kattan, an anesthesiologist and ICU doctor from California with FAJR, said that weighing heavily on all volunteers is "the guilt that we're already feeling when we leave, that we get to escape to safety."